REG 10.05.14 – Sponsored Awards – Transfers and Adjustments
Authority: Vice Chancellor for Finance and Administration.
History: First Issued: July 1, 2002. Last Revised: April 5, 2013.
Contact Info: Assistant Director, Systems and Compliance (919-515-8011) Office of Contracts and Grants
1. INTRODUCTION
1.1 Adjustments to sponsored project expenditures may be required to correct entry or coding errors. This statement provides the guidelines which Colleges/Schools/Departments/Units should follow regarding transfers and adjustments to expenditures on sponsored awards.
2. RULE
2.1 Federal, State and private sponsors do not permit the transfer of charges to other sponsored awards for the purpose of:
2.1.1 Eliminating overdrafts caused by expenditure overruns,
2.1.2 Avoiding restrictions, OR,
2.1.3 Other reasons of convenience.
3. GUIDELINES FOR COMPLETING TRANSFERS OR ADJUSTMENTS
3.1 It is the responsibility of the colleges or persons designated the “preaudit review function” to review monthly expenditures for sponsored projects to ensure that errors are detected on a timely basis and corrected within the time period allowed.
3.1.1 Internal procedures provide ninety (90) days after a charge was initially incurred to transfer that charge to or from sponsored awards to its final cost objective.
3.1.2 Failure to adjust charges affecting sponsored projects within the ninety (90) day time frame is considered non-compliant and can result in auditors determining that a late adjustment is unallowable.
3.2 All adjustments, whether moving charges to or from a sponsored project, must be appropriate, adequately justified, and sufficiently documented. Should a Principal Investigator determine that a sponsored project requires adjustment, it is important that a complete and accurate explanation be provided.
3.2.1 If pertinent correspondence is on hand detailing the need for an adjustment, the correspondence may be attached to the journal documentation.
3.2.2 Adjustments made to correct errors must be supported by a full explanation of how the error occurred. The adjustment must be approved by the College or Division office responsible for “preaudit” and compliance reviews.
3.2.3 If a transfer or adjustment is necessary during sponsored project closeout, the resulting transaction should be included as a reconciling item during the electronic closeout process and adequately supported by backup documentation. This support documentation should be forwarded to Contracts and Grants at the time of closeout.